Feb 1, 2010 10:45:07 AM

Online registration now is open for this year's two NCAA Regional Rules Seminars – the Association's primary annual gatherings for campus personnel involved in rules compliance.

The seminars will be May 17-21 in Indianapolis and June 14-18 in Dallas, and attendees can register to attend the event and reserve lodging in those cities through the NCAA Web site.

Complete schedules and descriptions of a broad array of sessions also are posted on the Web site. They indicate another varied mix of Association-wide and division-specific programming, including encores of such recently developed and well-received programming as a symposium on the major-infractions process.

The seminars will retain their primary focus as a place where attendees – including not only institutional and conference compliance administrators but also faculty athletics representatives and personnel involved in areas such as eligibility certification, financial aid and academic advising -- can gain new knowledge about NCAA legislation and programs while mingling with and learning from colleagues from other schools.

However, the seminars increasingly are employing new technological capabilities to help participants better prepare themselves in advance for the sessions, as well as improve on-site presentations.

"As we've moved more toward using technology at the seminars, it has changed the way that the sessions look and feel," said Lynn Holzman, NCAA director of academic and membership affairs.

The session descriptions indicate a few programs for which attendees are being asked prepare by using an online video-on-demand feature to learn about topics. Meanwhile, materials that once were provided as paper handouts will be available online only again this year, enabling participants to download them to personal computers before traveling to seminar sites and to support the NCAA's "green" efforts.

Holzman said there will be more power strips available in sessions for computer users, and that laptop-charging stations again will be available at seminar sites.

Each location will again offer division-specific segments, including a choice in each city of two segments for Division I attendees: Monday morning through Tuesday afternoon, or Wednesday afternoon through Friday morning.

One session in each city for Division III attendees runs Monday morning through Tuesday afternoon, while the Division II session in each city runs Wednesday afternoon through Friday morning.

Association-wide sessions – including a second-annual symposium featuring new content on the major-infractions process and programming focusing on such topics as NCAA drug policies and procedures, resources for student-athlete development, gender equity and sports wagering – are scheduled midweek, bringing together participants from all three divisions.

The seminars also have retained such recently developed features as "tracks" of programming that target levels of experience or areas of expertise – including for the third straight year an invitation-only advanced program for Division I compliance administrators with extensive experience in that area.

Holzman said attendees will see more presentations this year by teams representing multiple NCAA functions. She offered as an example sessions on various eligibility-certification processes, in which staff members who work in areas such as the Eligibility Center or in student-athlete reinstatement may team up on topics such as academic eligibility or amateurism certification.

"We're seeking to be more responsive to the membership's interest in understanding how these areas work together on these processes," Holzman said.

There also are special events scheduled in each of the cities hosting this year's seminars, including an NCAA Hall of Champions open house May 20 during the Indianapolis gathering

In Dallas, the National Association of Division III Athletics Administrators will present its annual summer forum (including a joint session with the Division III Commissioners Association) June 15-16.

The May seminar will be presented in the Indianapolis Downtown Marriott Hotel, while the June seminar will be hosted by the Sheraton Downtown Dallas Hotel.

Dates for the Division I segments in Indianapolis are May 17-18 and May 19-21 (ending by midday Friday), and those segments follow the same schedule in Dallas – June 14-15 and June 16-18.

The Division II segments will be May 19-21 in Indianapolis and June 16-18 in Dallas, and the Division III segments will be May 17-18 in Indianapolis and June 14-15 in Dallas.